Church of Scientology fined £14,000 for polluting a Sussex river with raw sewage from a gala concert - 2018-04-27

The Church of Scientology Religious Education College - a subsidiary of the organisation - repeatedly polluted a tributary of the River Medway with sewage from guests attending a gala concert at its headquarters in East Grinstead.

The church, based at Saint Hill Manor at East Grinstead, West Sussex, pleaded guilty to one offence and asked for ten others to be taken into consideration at Worthing Magistrates' Court on Friday 27 April.

The organisation was fined £14,000 and ordered to pay costs totalling £2,566.

The court heard that in August 2015, the church was replacing their old sewage treatment plant, with the new facility built to treat a higher volume of sewage.

The plant was completed and operating correctly when the Environment Agency inspected it in September 2015.

But in October, the Environment Agency was told of pollution in the Saint Hill area.